Kelly Thomas' "Army" To Fullerton PD: We Will Not Forget Your Savage Brutality

UPDATES at end of the post: A growing crowd of hundreds of citizens outraged by the recent "not guilty" verdicts for the cops charged by District Attorney Tony Rackauckas in the gruesome beating death of Kelly Thomas have gathered in front of the Fullerton Police Department for a four-hour rally that began at 10 a.m. today.

Musicians are singing anti-establishment songs. Folks using megaphones are leading chants telling police they "will never forget" what they did to an unarmed Thomas in July 2011. Women are wearing "Justice Warrior" t-shirts. One person is mocking cops by swinging a chocolate sprinkles donut from a fishing pole line. Passing motorists are honking their horns in support and many members of a diverse crowd are holding homemade posters.

One person is walking around wearing an ugly pig face mask and a police hat. Several people are holding U.S. flags. Someone used chalk to write in front of the police station, "Pigs live here." A few, sign-waving protesters occasionally stand in the middle of Commonwealth Avenue and disrupt traffic flow.

Ron Thomas, grieving father of the victim, is present (with Kelly's mother) and said if a police officer tries to beat him in the face with the butt of a Taser gun, he's "gonna kill him."

"We are not done by any means," said Thomas, encouraging people to attend next Tuesday's city council meeting. "We're going to raise some hell when all the evidence comes out."

The victim's sister also thanked the crowd for protesting the killing.

Poster messages include:

--"Police Murder and Lie"

--"Wake Up! Why aren't you angry?"

--"Stop Police Violence!"

--"Mental Illness is not a crime"

--"Kelly's Army"

--"ACAB" (a.k.a. "All Cops Are Bastards")

--"Tony R is a boot lickin' Snake"

--"Killer cops"

--"Guilty!"

--"Watch the video and decide for yourself"

--"Dude, I'm sorry. I can't breathe."

--"How many more will they kill before you stand up?"

--"FTP" (a.k.a. "Fuck The Police")

--"Justice for Kelly"

--"We won't party with pigs"

--"Enough is enough"

--"Stop police killings"

--"Resist!"

--"Tony Rack does not respect the people"

--"Honk for Justice"

--"911 = Murderers"

--"We Stop Cops," by members of the group Anonymous

--"RIP Kelly"

--"Police protect the innocent; not murder them!"

Just before 11:30 a.m., attendees chanted, "Fuck the police."

(If officers are present, they are undercover.)

There seems to be a consensus among protesters that Rackauckas, who unquestionably had the inclination to do what no other previous DA was willing to do about outrageous police conduct, botched his prosecution of fired officers Jay Cicinelli and Manuel Ramos.

UPDATE, 3:30 p.m.: Armed riot police with an armored vehicle have gathered on the street in front of FPD headquarters and some of the female protesters are expressing angry frustration at the officers.

"Are you going to attack an unarmed woman, huh?" one woman shouted at a cop, who remained still and non-responsive.

Revealingly, the police complained that protesters were blocking traffic, but--in truth--it was the cops (armed with military-style weapons) who completely shutdown the street.

The police tactic seems to have spurred the remaining energetic protesters to relocate to the spot of the Thomas killing at the Fullerton Transportation Center.

Laughably, Jeff Stuart, the latest Fullerton PD media flack, is claiming the department acted aggressively late in the afternoon because--get a load of this bullshit--a CBS reporter from Los Angeles might have felt threatened while covering the protests.

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Most of the posters here appear to be zealot cultists whose form of civilization is built around the uncivilized witch-hunting and lynch-mob mentality common to ignorant extremist bullies.

We are a nation of laws, and the application of those laws in Superior Court resulted in a jury finding that Officers Ramos, Cicinelli, and Wolfe being innocent of the charges brought against them by the Orange County District Attorney.

The verdict was justified under the facts and circumstances where police officers were confronted by a hostile person. Had Kelly Thomas simply complied with the police officers' requests and orders none of the "rumbling" would have followed.

If we are to rely on our law enforcement organizations to serve and protect us, then we cannot expect them to "cut and run" when a "person of interest" violently challenges their authority and responsibility.

Officers Ramos, Cicinelli, and Wolfe have borne the consequences of an unfortunate result intrinsic in the performance of some of the sworn duties of our nation's law enforcement members.

These officers have already been imposed with enough penance to let them a life time. It is now time to return them to their respective positions in law enforcement, if they so desire. To deprive them of that would be to punish them not for breaking our laws, but for enforcing ours laws in the best way they knew how under the facts and circumstances surrounding their interaction with Kelly Thomas on that fateful day.

In my opinion, the officers were wrongfully terminated by the Fullerton Police Department. Their positions should be reinstated, including a retroactive salary payment for all the time they were suspended or fired without pay. Furthermore, each officer suspended should be awarded compensatory payments of at least $100,000 each.

People, this is not about black, white, yellow, green, brown, rainbow...this is about our own existence to live in a country with laws and respect for life..where every citizen is treated with respect and dignity...If you care about those principles than fight for them, Freedom is a never ending battle...

Let remind all of you of three things. Thing number one this life is not the beginning or the end. Have you people forgotten there is a heaven and/or a hell that you will go to when you die. And thing number two God knows all that happens, there is no stone unturned or bird that falls out of the sky that he does not know about, do you think he would miss something as big as this. Thing number 3 is all cops are legal killers and the court system and the cop system is all one system that works together so in this world they will win. There will be a time and a place for real men and women of God to rise up against the evil forces of this world when God is with us. Trust me and be patient this day will come and the joke will then be on them and they will all pay for all the pain and suffering they have caused to God's children. They will suffer through things that you humans cannot even comprehend and cannot even be accurately described through verbal words. Low and behold that a badge or a title means nothing to God. It's all just bullshit lies to cover up their evil agendas.

First off, my hair and balls are all mine andare the same issued by God more than a few years ago. Secondly, I have never apologized or made excuses for anyone in this case. What you and others can't get through your thick heads is that there is a System in place and for the most part, it works. I don't agree with it sometimes and am as pissed as you are when some dirt bag criminal is found not guilty for one reason or the other. Having worked in the System most of my career, I still respect it and leave the judging to the Juries.

On the Police Chief, he serves at the pleasure of the City Manager who serves at the pleasure of three of five votes on the City Council. Don't know for a fact that the Chief received any pressure, but the new Fullerton Council was looking for radical change and firing the Officers was just that. I imagine the Fullerton City Attorney was consulted and probably recommended termination. Funny thing about most City Attorney's they don't know employment statutes, case law on discipline and the Peace Officer Bill of Rights. When you fire without cause chances are about 95% of the Officer getting his/her job back.

Lastly, over the course of my career, I made my share of mistakes of mistakes, said I was sorry when appropriate and learned from them. I was also not a favorite of my Police Chief and his Management clones and with the help my our very good legal counsel I survived several B/S Internal Affairs Investigations they threw at me. Not that it matters, during my entire career I never had a formal complaint made against me for excessive force or disrespecting any citizen I dealt with.

All day I was running around trying to put out emotional fires and while doing so I kept crossing paths with one of your young photographers named Josue. I've known Josue for a few years now, so I suppose I'm a little bias, but this guy seems to have the makings to one of the great photojournalists. I've been doing actvist type stuff for a long time, and Josue sees all the potential hotspots and races over to them before anyone else. Including me. I have mass respect for this young man and his talent. He is fearless and his photo's really capture the emotion of these moments in addition to the physical subject. Mass Respect. Don't lose this guy.

Would someone please find out if any of those jurors were Masons (Freemasons) Sadly, my own grandfather was a Grand Master, which is one of the highest ranks in Freemasonry. He died many years ago. Would only take one of those jurors being a Mason to find those murderers not guilty.

No matter how you boil it, and I realized this when I saw the video. The cops did nothing wrong. The homeless dude had to merely comply and nothing would have happened. It's over in the immortal words of the now deceased Rodney King, from shockingly too much booze and drugs....Can't we all get along....

@jmc_2099@jmc_2099 wake the F up. There is NO heaven, there is no Santa Jesus, there is no God. If there WERE, don't you think the b@stard would have INTERVENED to help save his alleged Chosen People from the Nazis?

Watched the video with the court transcripts. Ramos did everything possible to provoke and confuse an unarmed homeless man with mental issues who had committed no crime. Not surprised the cops got away with murder............again.

@downtownbrownHa! Are you fucking serious? Keep sucking piggie cock you fucking piggie faggot! The only good Fullerton cop is a dead Fullerton cop! Those two fat fuck piggies are going to get theirs too. They are not out the woods yet, I can guarantee you that ;)

@baxter65 LIke the non respect we have for you- NONE. What another agenda show..so your pals can do blow and fuck men who look like girls? SO do you do everything just to get laid. Paying for your friends becoming too expensive?

No matter how you boil it, and I realized this when I saw the video, the cops did everything wrong. Sorry, but the general public does not view the world through blue tinted glasses. You are warped! So let's summarize: police confront homeless man with obvious mental issues who has committed no crime, and minutes later that man is brutally beaten to death. Yeah, that's great police work.

@fc2479Yet another sawdust for brains halfwit that doesn't understand the first thing about how to correctly work with someone that has emotional difficulties. Either way though you honestly believe that just because he didn't comply justifies them beating him to death? In order to take a life you have to reasonably believe that your life is in danger. I don't think any one of those pigs can say that they honestly believed their life was in danger.

@DavidZenger Actually, I thought Whiting was pretty gentle considering the number of arrests that were made. To his credit, he spent time talking to Officers and visiting the department including a ride along. Wonder how many protesters have done that? Secondly, a peaceful protest is one thing and within the rights of those involved. When hooligans and misfits committing acts of vandalism attach themselves to the group, the environment changes and not for the better.

@ussaisapolicestate@jmc_2099 No man you're an idiot and you don't know what you are talking about. The jews voted Jesus to the cross, God let them get what they deserved. God never said they were the chosen people, the jews told the world God said they were the chosen people. I'm not even going to debate with you further more because there is a God I know that for a fact not from just reading the bible, but from real life experiences. Just because shit happens doesn't mean there is no God. God doesn't need to save anyone's life, there is a lot more then just this life and he has their passage to heaven or hell secured and no one can fuck with that. Also the Jews were saved by the allied nations so I really don't get what your point really is.

@jsworthcomp@fc2479 Oh Scott now don't get your panties in a bunch. You just don't understand police procedure. You need to open your mind and go to LAPD Newton Div and go on a ridealong....preferably the graveyard shift. you will understand after the shift is over. Word to the wise don't call Los Angele's finest Pigs....might not turn out well....adios to you and my amigo Gustavo...have a blessed day....

Hooligans and misfits are exactly what Orange County CA law enforcement befriends for their criminal dirty work. So there is a very good chance that the vandals are from their side in true J Edgar Hoover paranoid racist communist / black power activist under every bed style.

@roman_archer Sorry bub, you are behind the curve. The Jury of twelve men and women looked at the case a lot closer than arm chair quarterbacks like yourself have done and arrived at a verdict of "Not Guilty." Quit whining like a little girl and move on with your life.

@fc2479What will they do if I call them pigs? Beat an unarmed person to death? Well... they may try. Didn't work out too well for the last pigs that tried that with me though. I don't suppose it would work out any better for them.

Wow 99.99% of the time, suspects deserve to get convicted. That's some perfect record you Orange County cops have mustered. As perfect as Bernie Madoff's investment record.

By the way @LtPar you mentioned once that you weren't from this area so you couldn't weigh in on some OC law fraud of the day topic we were discussing at the time. Now you are claiming to be a former Irvine/Costa Mesa police officer. Keep your bullshit story straight will ya. That's what brings the house of cards down EVERYTIME - inconsistencies - criminal justice 101 ;)

@18usc241 Welcome to Criminal Justice System 101. That's what all Defense Lawyers do in an atempt to get their clients off. 99.9% of the time, the suspects are not Cops and deserve to be sent to the joint. In fact, the case you referenced resulted in the Jury finding the three dirt bags guilty of rape and sentencing them to jail. Also if I remember correctly, the senior Haidl was also convicted by a jury of corruption? He managed to escape jail time by becoming a snitch for the Feds and rolling over on Corona and Jaramillo. The bottom line is, in every profession, whether it be law enforcement, school teachers, clergy, lawyers, auto mechanics, politicans, etc., there are good people and not so good people. When they violate the law, each deserves to be held accountable for his/her actions. Each however has the right to have legal representation and to exercise their rights under the Constitution and the Law. For the most part, the Criminal Justice System does a better than average job at that. Not always right, not always to our individual likings, but a hell of a lot better than most places in the world.

These jurors looked at the case as presented by cop aologists attorney's -one of whom tried to destroy the reputation of a female gang rape victim - one of the disgusting rapists being the son of Mike Carona associate Haidl. You know LTPar - the car salesman rich dude who gets a high ranking job with the Orange County, CA Sheriffs department courtesy Carona the federal prison inmate. Anyway this is the caliber and level of ethics of the murdering cop apologist counsel. These are the people who performed before the jury. These are the people you are sugar coating. And any reasonable non-sociopathic human being would take issue with this.

@ussaisapolicestate@ltpar@roman_archer Geeze, what a guy. Did you just fall off the turnip truck from the boondocks? I suppose however that your last paragraph means you spend a lot of time doing Jury Duty? Give my regards to the Judge.

@ltpar@roman_archer So let me get this straight, the interim police chief fired Ramos and Cicinelli due to the fact that there was intense public and political pressure to do something and he wanted to keep the position of Chief so he just caved in and fired these fine officers? Am I missing something here? Does the general public vote for police chief? That's more laughable then that ridiculous toupee you're wearing. And why do you suppose their was so much intense public and political pressure applied to this case? Once again, the entire general public has it wrong, while a hand full of police apologists have it right. Honestly, if Ramos and Cicinelli were videotaped in high definition 1080p slaughtering an entire orphanage of babies and nuns you would still be out here blogging your pathetic excuses as to why that would be such a righteous take down. We get that. What we don't get is why is it so hard for the police to admit that they are wrong. It NEVER happens no matter how obvious the indiscretion.You will NEVER hear a police officer say "I was wrong" or "I made a mistake". They must teach an entire class on this at the local junior college that you guys train at. I'll give you the last word on this itpar. You know you can't stand it if you don't.

@roman_archer Direct from the lips of one of those "gutless cowards" here is an answer to your question? As time will tell, you will likely find that the Fullerton Police Department acted prematurely in firing the Officers. Why was this done you are asking? Because of intense public and political pressure brought to bear on the interim Police Chief, who wanted the job full time. He chose the easy path rather than standing firm until the trial was finished. Conviction of a crime would have provided the "cause" needed to justify termination. Without it, there is no cause. Add in the testimony that the Officers were acting within department policy and chances are good of an arbitrator overturning the firing and reinstating them with full back pay. I am guessing once the Officers get the terminations off their records and collect their back pay, they will decline to return to work in Fullerton and will move on to another Police Department outside of southern California.

Again, one question for the king of verbal diarrhea (aka itpar). Why do you suppose Ramos and Cicinelli were fired from the same department that claimed during the trial that their actions were justified? Out of the very small handful of police apologists that frequent these blogs, why can't I get one of you gutless cowards to address this question?

Says the king of verbal diarrhea who supports killing unarmed civilians who have committed no crime other then being homeless. You continue posting to every article on Kelly Thomas. Why is it that you can't move on with your life?